Thank Solari for small favors. I flag down a passing servant. “Excuse me, but I’m afraid I've been called to the Chambers. Would you be so kind as to escort this young lady to the old nanny’s quarters next to mine?” I might be required to answer this summons, but Sable has no such obligation. She should be free to relax away from prying eyes and ogling stares. I'll catch up with her after the Elders chew me out for whatever they think I've done this time.
The servant girl frowns. “You mean Kiki’s old rooms? The ones that adjoin yours?”
“Yes. Make sure she’s fed and comfortable before you get back to work.”
Sable’s brow furrows. “Cara, I don’t understand. What's going on?”
“You know how I said I get into trouble on my own? Well, this appears to be one of those times.” I try to hide my irritation with a smile, but I don’t think she's buying it. “I'll be fine. Just get settled, eat some dinner, and go to bed. I'll see you in the morning.”
Corvin’s eyes narrow at that, but whatever. Contrary to what the Elders might think, I don’t live and breathe to make him happy. Still, to avoid further ruffling his feathers, I stop myself shy of giving her a goodbye kiss. I still don’t know how she’d receive something like that. I watch her walk off with the servant girl, only tearing my eyes away from her receding form when Corvin clears his throat.
“Her skirt’s awfully short.”
A master of stating the obvious, that man. “I rather like it.” I shrug and start towards the Elders’ Chambers. The guards freeze, seemingly torn between their duty to follow me and their desire to watch the short-skirt show. “Are you all going to come along, or are you going to ogle my guest?”
Corvin curses under his breath, and he barks out an order that sends the guards trotting after me.
I wonder what the Elders are mad about now. Is it just my delay in returning, like Corvin said, or is there something else? Will they fight me on Sable staying in the palace? These questions and others swirl in my mind, plaguing me.
I want her to feel happy and safe with me. For some reason, this takes priority over all else. It burns at the forefront of my mind, drawing all my other thoughts to that one goal like a moth to the flames.
As I suspected, a triad of disapproving glares greets me as I stride through the Chamber doors.
My pace is such that the guards had to jog to keep up with me, so when we all finally come to a stop below the dais they pant for breath. Corvin, who just two days ago lay near death, is the only one besides me in good enough shape to endure the rushed march through the palace.
To my surprise, Tirin lays into me first. I expected Kryos to lead the dressing-down, but I guess the youngest Elder must have done something to earn a temporary promotion.
“Why did you delay your return, Suntouched? We expected you to come back with the rest of the soldiers, as is your duty.”
I’ve been planning my response ever since Corvin interrupted Sable and me on the road back. “Is it not also my duty to tend to the injured wolf we rescued from the panthers? She fought bravely despite being wounded and near death, and it would have been rude to leave before she was fully recovered.”
He leans forward. “The healers at the temple could have seen to her needs. Instead, you wasted time dallying and carrying on as though you were courting the girl!”
Interesting. Someone in the town reported back to the Elders, or at the very least to Corvin, who passed word along. The most likely culprit is the drunkard at the tavern. He was the only person to directly challenge me in regards to the events in the woods, after all. When I think more on the matter, though, I realize it could have been almost anyone. A spy wouldn’t want me to get suspicous, would they? No. They’d put on a kind face, perhaps befriend me to gain information.
“I was doing nothing of the sort. I tended her wounds, yes, and saw to it that she was fed and clothed, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was courting her.”
Corvin crosses his arms over his chest and snorts. “I’d say your actions on the road before I stopped you looked very much like courting.”
Bastard! Gone are the days of him standing up for me, then. Perhaps he’s the rat. I can see him being petty and reporting slanderous lies.
Jealousy doesn’t suit him.
Kryos bangs a fist on the arm of his seat with a growl. “Where is this mystery girl? Why hasn’t she been brought to our presence for questioning?”
I’ll be damned if I let them rake her over the coals in the state she’s in. “Your excellency, the poor girl has been through a major trauma. She nearly died all alone in the woods, and she’s still terrified and skittish. If we barrage her with questions, she’s only going to recede further into herself, and then we’ll never get answers out of her.”
Lana scoffs. “Your job is not to coddle her.”
“Compassion is not coddling.”
“You can paint it with pretty words all you like, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have been neglecting your duties for no good reason.” Kryos’s fangs slide out, and his fingernails lengthen into claws. “With the number of panthers Corvin counted, we should be amassing a military force for you to lead back into the woods. Twenty panthers! Acting most out of character at that. From the retellings of your soldiers and guards, the panthers were organized, led by a single man. This is incongruous with what we know of them. We need as much information as possible to devise a proper plan of action.”
I wave my arm at Corvin in a sweeping gesture. “You have his account! Do you really think a scared civilian is going to remember any important details that Corvin, your finest battle-bred soldier, could not? It would be a waste of time to even try to question her, especially right now. She’s all alone in a strange environment, and when you add the horrors she was subjected to in the woods, she’s lucky to have her head on straight as it is. Leave her alone.”
Kryos growls. “You will bring her to us, and that is an order.”
He’s not the only one who can posture. I shift my own fangs and claws, then ignite a ring of flames on the floor, surrounding the dais and trapping the Elders where they sit. “Youwill leave her alone.Thatis an order from the heir.”
